What is a scintillation cocktail?
All liquid scintillation cocktails contain at least an organic solvent and one or more scintillators. The major part of the LSC cocktails, the so-called emulsifying cocktails, contain a combinantion of surfactants (detergents) to be able to hold aqueous samples.
How does liquid scintillation work?
Liquid scintillation cocktails absorb the energy emitted by radioiso- topes and re-emit it as flashes of light. The solvent carries out the bulk of the energy absorption. Dissolved in the solvent, molecules of phosphor convert the absorbed energy into light.
What is a liquid scintillation analyzer?
Liquid scintillation counting (LSC) is the standard laboratory method to quantify the radioactivity of low energy radioisotopes, mostly beta-emitting and alpha-emitting isotopes. The sensitive LSC detection method requires specific cocktails to absorb the energy into detectable light pulses.
What is a liquid scintillation counter used for?
Liquid scintillation counters are mainly used for counting beta-emitting elements (3H, 14C, N, O, P, S) because their radiation (charged particles) has a short range in solids and liquids. Liquid scintillation detectors differ from well counters in that the PM tube is within a light-tight box.
What do you need to know about liquid scintillation?
Liquid scintillation counter Samples are dissolved or suspended in a “cocktail” containing a solvent (historically aromatic organics such as xylene or toluene, but more recently less hazardous solvents are used), typically some form of a surfactant, and “fluors” or scintillators which produce the light measured by the detector.
How does a liquid scintillation cocktail absorb energy?
Liquid scintillation cocktails absorb the energy emitted by radioiso- topes and re-emit it as flashes of light. To accomplish these two ac- tions, absorption and re-emission, cocktails contain two basic compo- nents, the solvent and the phosphor(s).
What kind of instrument is a liquid scintillation counter?
The radioactive samples and cocktail are placed in small transparent or translucent (often glass or plastic) vials that are loaded into an instrument known as a liquid scintillation counter.
What can be counted without a scintillation counter?
This interference, known as “quenching”, can be overcome through data correction or through careful sample preparation. High-energy beta emitters, such as phosphorus-32 and yitrium-90 can also be counted in a scintillation counter without the cocktail, instead using an aqueous solution containing no scintillators.
